Gangs who bring women to the UK to sell as sex slaves for thousands of pounds each are to be targeted by a new human trafficking police team, Scotland Yard said today.

The unit was set up to tackle the "significant" problem after police acknowledged a more effective approach was needed.

People - mainly women - are trafficked into the UK from numerous countries including Lithuania and the Baltic states, China, Malaysia, parts of Africa and increasingly South America.

The Lithuanian government believes Britain to be the country's number one destination for people trafficking. Girls as young as 14 are brought to the UK to work in brothels and, increasingly, in anonymous suburban residential areas, making it harder to escape.

Today, Detective Superintendent Mark Ponting from the Metropolitan police said as much as £8,000 could change hands for women who are brought into Britain and sold as prostitutes.

Det Supt Ponting is responsible for the overall strategy of the new human trafficking team, which will coordinate the Met's efforts to stamp out the practice.

With Home Office funding of £785,000 until April next year, the 11-strong team will provide advice to all those working on trafficking and will focus on organised criminal networks.

The operational head of the unit is Detective Inspector Sally Jeffrey, who recently travelled to Lithuania on a factfinding mission.

Det Supt Ponting was heavily involved in last year's Operation Pentameter, which rescued 84 victims of human trafficking in a series of raids across the country. He said organised criminal gangs were making thousands of pounds through the exploitation of women.

"It is an appalling crime," said the officer. "These traffickers are making huge amounts of money from it and that is what we are trying to break."

He said it was important for victims to give evidence against their captors if possible, but added that many women are often permanently scarred by their ordeals.

"You have to remember the trauma and difficulties associated with this crime. Many of these women are so traumatised that it is just inconceivable they would give evidence in a trial.

"These women have been held against their will, raped many times and their lives have been ruined. That is why the courts treat this offence so seriously."

Traffickers caught in the UK can expect sentences of 13 or 14 years. The new team is made up of officers from a variety of backgrounds including the clubs and vice unit, a murder inquiry unit, a kidnap unit and the Heathrow airport team.

It comes under the auspices of Operation Maxim, which focuses on organised immigration crime. Although the majority of the trafficking is related to the sex industry, there are examples of forced labour such as domestic service and manual rural jobs.

During her visit to Lithuania, Det Insp Jeffrey met Algirdas Matonis, the head of Lithuania's criminal police bureau, who was enthusiastic about working with the UK authorities.

Det Insp Jeffrey said there were no clear figures of the number of women being trafficked into the UK but an intelligence picture was gradually being built up.

"Human trafficking is an emerging problem and everyone accepts that," she said. "Historically, the issue has been dealt with on an ad hoc basis within the Metropolitan police through the clubs and vice squad and the police boroughs.

"Although these units will continue to deal with some cases, it was felt that it was time for a specialist unit to provide a more coordinated response."

Two operations are currently going on but no details can be released.

The Met insisted the new team was not just another version of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, but said the two would work closely together, with the human trafficking team more London-focused.